Contrasts

Dave Holland always described Sam Rivers’ groups as his finishing school. It was Sam who
instructed him to play “all the music” – inside, outside, atonal, swing, blues, and all the hues of the
jazz and chamber music traditions. By the time of Contrasts, Rivers and Holland had been
working together consistently for seven years (with Dave’s Conference of the Birds at the start of
the story), a powerhouse combination of multi-reeds and double bass. Of the drummers who
passed through the line-up, Thurman Barker was one of the most creative, rippling across drum
kit and marimba. Young trombone innovator George Lewis had already worked with Holland and
Barker in Anthony Braxton groups. For Contrasts everyone was fired up and ready to play.